▸Fear Is A Liar - Zach Williams

I woke up to someone shaking me away. A groan slipped past my lips as I fluttered my eyes. Grover was looming over me with worry.

"Oh thank the gods you're alright, Nevah!" Grover pulled me into a tight hug. I embraced him back, placing my head on his shoulder. I took in my environment noting that we were in some sort of empty closet or room.

"Are you okay?" I placed my hands on his shoulders after I pulled away from the hug. I observed his face, noticing cuts. "How badly they did they hurt you? Are you in pain? Schist, I wish I had some ambrosia-"

"I'm fine." Grover belated out, smacking my hands away. "How about you?"

"Good question..." I trailed off, looking at some of the scares that stayed behind from Gerard's torture. "Physically, all I have are scars now."

"Hey, they're out there looking for you, for us. We'll get out of here soon. I promise." Grover said, placing a comforting arm around my shoulder. I smiled up at him, leaning against my friend.

"How'd you know I was here?" I asked.

"Call it a gut feeling. I figured you'd be back somewhere near Beacon Hills." Grover stated.

"How's Percy and Stiles?" I mumbled a yawn as exhaustion came.

"Worried beyond belief. Percy's acting just how you were when he went missing. Stiles' losing his mind with searching for you and someone name Derek Hale." Grover told me. "But hey, they'll find us soon. They knew I was heading to Beacon Hills. So they can deduct that I'll be between here and San Francisco with the other demigods."

"Have you communicated with Percy through the link yet?" I questioned, my eyes fluttering.

"I did, hopefully he got it. He'll find us, don't worry." Grover gave me shoulder a squeeze.

"I know he will. I just don't know if we'll be alive by that time." I admitted. "It's obvious that Gerard's and Monroe's patience with me is running thin. I won't be surprised if they plan on killing me sometime soon."

"I won't let that happen." Grover looked down at me. "I'll come up with some."

"Trust me, I know." I smiled up at Grover, yawning again. "I'm-I'm gonna take a quick nap. Wake me up if anything happens."

"Will do." Grover mumbled.

I closed my eyes, hoping that the sleep will take me away from this harsh reality. The door to our prison slammed open. I shot up onto my feet, putting myself in front of Grover.

"Grab her." Monroe nodded at her men. I sighed rolling my eyes. Four hunters entered the room. I rolled my shoulders back ready to fight. The first hunter came at me. I ducked, swinging my fist at their jaw. Grover kicked someone in the face behind me. As I moved onto the third hunter, the fourth managed to prick my arm. The third hunter pushed Grover against the wall as the rest grabbed a hold of me, dragging me as I kicked and struggled. "Just give up already, Nevah."

"Never. I'll never give up." I spat, kicking her in the thigh. She hissed and closed the door, locking Grover in the room I was just in. They dragged me into the room that I shared with the werewolf couple. Ethan was already strung up. My eyes widened as I noticed a large group of people standing to the side watching us with fear and hatred. "What the hell?"

"Hang her up quickly." Monroe ordered. The hunters handcuffed me next to Ethan. He gave me a small smile. Sighing I gave him one as well. "Here, we are going to show you just how dangerous the supernatural are and how you guys can fight them."

Monroe held the control that held the dial. I internally groaned at the sight. Seeming to catch my feelings towards the device, Monroe spun the dial. Electricity crackled as Ethan and I were hit with high voltages. My back arched away from the fence from the intensity. When she turned it off, Ethan and I panted, trying to catch our breaths.

"Take a good look." Monroe started to walk towards Ethan and I. "We keep that current of electricity coursing through him because otherwise he'd rip through his bindings. Because otherwise he'd break free and kill us. We keep that current going through her because she's dangerous enough to control water and fight like no other person you've ever seen."

"I'd start with you." Ethan growled out, glaring at Monroe. The dial was spun and another wave of electrify hit the both of us at a higher voltage than the previous. A scream spilled out of my lips at the pain.

"The people who came before us used arrows and crossbows, Monroe held up an arrow, "to fight them. This is all they had to protect themselves, a sliver of wood. While he was claws that can cut into bone," Monroe held Ethan's wrist to display his claws. She then held his jaw, showing off his fang. Ethan lowly growled as he eyed her. "And fangs to tear us apart. She can't armed and unarmed, and she can control water that can be sued to drown people. The both of them are stronger, faster, and their ability to heal can only be described as extraordinary." Monroe explained, letting go of Ethan. She pointed the arrow to a friendly face. The girl turned around before realizing it was she who was called on. My face fell as I recognized it to be Sydney. "You, what's your name?"

"Sydney." She replied softly.

"You've seen then up close." Monroe walked towards Sydney. "Don't be shy."

"There was a lacrosse game. We got trapped in the library." Sydney stated, fiddling with her hands.

"And what did you do?" Monroe asked.

"Nothing. All we could do was hide." Sydney licked her lips and looked at me. "She was actually there."

"I was protecting you gu-" I was cut off by my screams as another wave of electricity coursed through my body. I panted as it stopped.

"That's okay," Monroe placed a comforting hand on Sydney's shoulder. "Sydney, I did the same thing. Until I got tired of hiding, tired of being afraid. And I decided it's their turn to be afraid. It's their turn! Their turn to hide. Their turn to be alone."

Monroe walked over to Ethan and stabbed the arrow into his side. Ethan screamed out in pain. I looked worriedly at him as blood started to seep through his white shirt. People were starting to cheer from the crowd. I snapped my head towards Monroe and glared at her. She looked at me before turned to face her crowd.

"Their turn to run." Monroe exclaimed, pointing at Ethan and I. "Their turn to be hunted. I was alone when I killed that hellhound. A creature they said couldn't be killed."

People cheered. Fists were pumped and head nodding came from the crowd. I looked at them in disgust. Monroe eyed a young teen boy in the crowd who kept to himself.

"You know who else was alone? Nolan, come here." Monroe waved the boy towards her. Nolan walked towards her. She placed her hand on his shoulder and face the crowd. "You wanna know what Nolan did? On his own, late at night, he risked his life to try to take out Scott McCall, the Alpha."

Everyone quieted at the word 'alpha'. My eyes narrowed at the boy. The urge to defend my alpha creeping up my throat.

"This sixteen-year-old boy put enough bullets in that house, I'm surprise it's still standing." Monroe continued to praise the boy. More cheers rang through the room. Soon the lights flashed on, revealing the weapons on the metal shelves in the room. "You won't have to be alone. Thanks to Gerard, you have an armory. Guns, weapons. And most of all, you have each other. I don't wanna pretend that this will be easy. I know its foes against our nature as protectors. But you're gonna have to be like Nolan and Sydney. Keep their bravery in mind when you step out tonight and do what you know you have to do."

Monroe turned towards Ethan and yanked the arrow out. Ethan cried out, blood spluttering out. Using the same arrow, Monroe stabbed me in the thigh. A scream escaped me as she quickly pulled it out. Monroe held the arrow up like a trophy, showing it to everyone in the room. Cheers loudly filled the room.

"You're the monsters if you go out there killing innocents." I glared at Monroe. She turned to face me.

"We're not the monsters, Nevah. You guys are."

"Uh, what exactly is she?" Nolan asked, eyeing me nervously. I sent him another glare. He quickly diverted his eyes elsewhere.

"A demigod. Half human and half god." Monroe explained. "And to be more precise, she is the daughter of Poseidon, the god of the sea, earthquakes, storms and horses. What I've told you about here is only the tip of the iceberg. She's extremely dangerous."

"S-she can cause earthquakes?" Someone stuttered from the crowd.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Monroe face me. "Cause a small earthquake, Nevah."

"Why would I do that?" I snarled.

"Because it ends up saving your friend." Monroe smiled. Clenching my teeth, I glared at Monroe. Soon, the shelves started to rattle and the ground started to shake. Gasps were coming from the crowd. I stopped the mini earthquake. Monroe smiled and held out a key. "Sydney. Get them out of here. You, too. Help yourselves."

Sydney came up to me first, eyeing with interest. She undid my bond before going to Ethan. As soon as Ethan was free, I went to his aid. I threw an arm around his waist and held him up. Groaning, Ethan wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"You okay?" I muttered, eyeing the blood on his shirt.

"I'll heal." He murmured.

Nolan and Sydney grabbed a hold of our arms. I shot them both glares before they pulled us out of the room. We passed the people scanning through the weapons hungrily before we walked into the hallway.

"Where is he? What have you done with him?" Ethan asked Sydney and Nolan as we were lead down the hallway. They set us against the wall at the end of the hallway. "Where's Jackson?"

"Ethan?" I cupped his face as his head started to loll to the side.

"Where's Jackson?" Ethan continued to mutter.

"I don't know." I truthfully told him. He let out a whimper, resting his head on my shoulder. I wrapped both of my arms around him, rubbing soothing patterns on his arm. "We're going to find him. He's Jackson. He's safe. He's tough."

Ethan fell unconscious, his breath shaking. I bit my lip, giving his arm a squeeze. Looking up, I saw Sydney and Nolan eyeing the bloody arrow in Nolan's hand. Nolan wrapped his hand around it and glared down at me and Ethan.

"Try anything, and you'll regret it kid." I warned, eyeing the arrow. Sydney licked her lips.

"Why don't we head back, yeah?" Sydney placed her hand on Nolan's shoulder. He nodded and started to walk away from us. Biting her lip, Sydney kneeled in front of me. "Were you truly trying to protect us that night?"

"Of course. Why would I risk my life fighting a resurrected beast?" I shot back.

"Look, I-I don't think you guys are bad guys. I don't believe it." Sydney truthfully admitted.

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"I didn't really have a choice. My parents are here and everyone in town that isn't supernatural are on this side." Sydney told me.

"Now, I don't believe that for a second." I softly smiled. "I know they're some human in this town that don't agree with this and are fighting with the supernaturals."

"Right..." Sydney trailed off. She stood and glanced over her shoulder. "I better go before it gets suspicious. By the way...was Lori...was she a werewolf too? Like her brother?"

"Yeah." I choked out, tears springing in my eyes. "Brett and Lori were werewolves. Great people too."

"Yeah." Sydney softly nodded before walking away. It was a few minutes later when Ethan started to regain consciousness.

"Hey, how you feeling?" I asked.

"Tired of this shit, you?" Ethan replied, looking up from my lap.

"About the same to be honest." I sighed.

"Why haven't you left? They haven't come for us yet." Ethan looked down the hallway to see it empty.

"Same reason why you haven't. We've got people in here that we love and can't abandon." I leaned my head against the wall. "I want this to be over with already."

"Put them away in the same cell. We're starting tonight." Monroe walked towards us with a gun in her hand. Four people were flanked at her sides. I heaved a sigh and shared a nervous glance with Ethan. This wasn't going to end well.

    one or two more chapters before Torrent is done!

I know...part 2 is short oops

Much love,
Lux